| Mispillion River | |
| Map Size: | 180 |
| Pushpin Map: | Delaware |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 180 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of the Mispillion River |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Type3: | Counties |
| Length: | 15milesapproximately[1] |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 91.77cuft/s at mouth with Delaware Bay[2] |
| Source1: | confluence of Beaverdam and Tantrough Branches at Blairs Pond |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 38.8814°N -75.5°W[3] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 29feet[4] |
| Mouth Location: | near Mispillion Light |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 38.9514°N -75.3133°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0feet |
| Basin Size: | 76sqmi[5] |
| Tributaries Left: | Beaverdam Branch Lednum Branch Mullet Run Swan Creek Fishing Branch Beaverdam Branch Kings Causeway Branch Crooked Gut |
| Tributaries Right: | Tantrough Branch Johnson Branch Bowman Branch Deep Branch |
The Mispillion River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in southern Delaware in the United States. It is approximately 15miles long and drains an area of 76mi2 on the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
It rises in northern Sussex County, approximately 3miles southwest of Milford, and flows generally east-northeastwardly, defining the boundary between Sussex and Kent counties; it passes through the center of Milford on its course to its mouth at Delaware Bay, 16miles northwest of Cape Henlopen.[1] [6] The lower 12miles of the river are considered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be navigable.[7]
A boardwalk known as the Mispillion Riverwalk follows the river in Milford., an effort was underway to preserve a greenway along the river upstream and downstream of Milford.[8]
According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Mispillion River has also been known historically as:[3]
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"The first occurrence of this name (of the river) is in the form Mispening on a map of 1664, tentatively analyzed as meaning "as the great tuber (stream);" (Dunlap and Weslager, 1950)